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Monday, 21 September 2015

We spent the May bank holiday weekend this year at my parents house in Shropshire. I worked out that we would be there for my mom's birthday so of course I would have to make her a spectacular cake!

Her favourite chocolate bar in the world is Cadbury's Whole Nut...so I used that as my inspiration and the cake evolved from there!

The chocolate-hazelnut cake is made without any butter at all and the batter consists mainly of whipped eggs -the batter triples in size the longer you whip the eggs! I had never made a cake using this method before and I actually loved it! It was so fast and easy and the cake was unbelievably light and airy!

The original recipe I was following filled the insides as well as the outsides with chocolate nutella frosting but I decided that might be too rich, so I whipped up some light and fluffy coconut frosting to go in between the cake layers and kept the creamy dreamy nutella frosting just for the outside of the cake!

The cake was finished off with some chunks of whole nut chocolate and some chopped hazelnuts coating the outside.

It was super delicious, and a must for any chocolate & hazelnut lover in your life!!

Also, I was featured last week as a top UK food blogger and if you head over to the site there's an interesting little infographic about reasons why people blog - I'm definitely motivated by food being my passion!!

Wednesday, 19 August 2015

Last month we finally bought an ice cream maker, something we have wanted for a while, and oh man how did I live life without it?! I am seriously in love!!

We whipped up our first batch the day after we got our machine, and I turned to my husband and said 'how are we ever going to buy shop bought ice cream again?!' as I tasted the first bite...because it is streets ahead of anything you'll get off the shelves at your local supermarket!

I can already see ice cream making is going to become my latest obsession! because there are just soooo many possibilities!

Oreo and Nutella are two of my big loves in life so it made sense that they should be the first flavour I made! but I'm already dreaming up coconut & bounty, rocky road, peanut butter & banana, and hazelnut and ferrero of course!

There is a creaminess to home made ice cream which just can't be beat! I would have honestly eaten this whole tub if left alone with the spoon! I also couldn't believe just how quick and easy it was to whip it up...dangerously quick and easy!!

In my head stirring in ribbons of nutella would give little melty pools of nutella in the ice cream, but then obviously it got frozen! and they turned into rock hard little pockets of nutella, but oh man that was even better than how I wanted it to turn out! frozen nutella is real...and it's amazing! and I might just have to start piping out little nutella discs and freezing them for fun because they taste so great!

You need this ice cream in your life...and you need an ice cream maker in your life, go out and obey these two instructions from me and your life will get instantly happier, and better!

In a medium sized bowl of a stand mixer, combine the milk and sugar and mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.

Stir in the double cream and vanilla extract. Slice open your vanilla bean, and scrape out the seeds and add to the mixture.

Turn the machine on, pour the mixture into the freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened - about 25-30 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft creamy texture.

Mix in the crushed Oreos. Melt the nutella in a microwave safe bowl for 30-45 seconds until slightly runny. Stir it through the ice cream. If you want a soft serve texture you could eat it at this point.

Alternatively, if you want it to be firmer like in the pictures above, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for 3 hours or overnight. Remove from the freezer about 10 minutes before serving.

When serving, crush up some extra oreo biscuits on top of the ice cream and drizzle with some warm melted nutella.

Wednesday, 22 July 2015

Wow what a mouthful! This was one of the first bakes I made in our new home! and you know what I was most excited about...aside from eating them, was photographing them against this mint green wall!

Isn't it just dreamy!

It's like our landlord knew mint green was my fave colour! It's one of the things I love most about our house...along with our dishwasher! It's been a long 2 years without one!

I whipped up these mini peanut butter cup doughnuts for father's day because Byron is all about the peanut butter so I knew he'd be all over these! I also got a mini doughnut pan for Christmas that had yet to make its debut so it seemed like a good combo!

While I was photographing the doughnuts and Byron was patiently waiting to try them, I snapped these pics of him and Ella Bella in the garden. He is such a great daddy to our baby girl and we're so lucky to have him in our lives!

Since it was my first time baking doughnuts I don't have much to compare them to! but the peanut butter chocolate ganache was the perfect pairing for these soft little buttermilk babies and the chopped peanut butter cups strewn throughout the mix were a definite highlight! Topped with generous chunks of peanut butter cup and they really are a peanut butter lovers dream!

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease doughnut pan - if using a silicone pan you can skip this step.

Place flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, egg, vanilla and pudding mix into a large bowl. Add smashed peanut butter cups and pour in the buttermilk. Using a whisk, stir to combine.

Scoop batter into doughnut pan, I had to make mine in two batches. Bake for 15-18 minutes until cooked through. Remove and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, and melt in 30 second intervals. Add cream to chocolate, stirring until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, put back in the microwave for 15 more seconds. If the ganache needs thinning, put back in the microwave for another 15 seconds.

Chop up the mini peanut butter cups into quarters and garnish the ganache with them.

Sunday, 12 July 2015

It has been well documented on this blog that my husband loves cookies! I always want to bake him extravagant layer cakes when his birthday rolls around but he always requests the humble cookie instead! To sneakily do both I baked him up the cookie dough layer cake masterpiece back in 2012 but ever since I have just stuck to giant cookies…because if he wants a cookie, then I'll give him a cookie, but it will have to be a super size one!

He loves snickers and I'd already made him a Toblerone one last year that never got blogged and a triple chocolate peanut butter one for Valentine's so I decided a snickers one would be a tasty birthday treat. It is a lovely fail safe cookie recipe that I always use as my base and then you can just throw whatever mix ins you like in there. If you were partial to caramel then I reckon some caramel swirled through or drizzled on top would be extra delicious but we're not really caramel fans over here so I opted just to keep it simple...

little chopped up snicker pieces thrown on top of some warm drizzled chocolate…

and finished off with a swirly wave of rich chocolate frosting and larger snickers bits!

The birthday boy loved it! so much so, that when some friends popped round unexpectedly later that evening and I asked him on the sly if he wanted to serve some of his birthday cookie to them he declined! apparently it was too good for sharing!

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together until pale and fluffy. Stir in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add vanilla. With mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add chopped snickers and chocolate chunks and mix in with a spatula until incorporated.

Break dough into four portions and drop into four corners of the tray. Using your hands spread the dough out until it covers all of the tray and is relatively smooth on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Melt 1/4 cup chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave in two 30 second intervals. Once melted, allow to cool for a few minutes and transfer into a piping bag. Drizzle over the cookie diagonally. Chop one and a half snickers bars into slices, and chop the other half into tiny cubes. Throw the cubes across the cookie on top of the drizzle.

Add the butter and beat on low to incorporate the ingredients and then turn up to high and beat for 4-5 minutes until fluffy. Add the milk, half a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Stir in the vanilla at the end.

Transfer to a piping bag and pipe frosting around the edge of the cookie.

Use the snickers slices you chopped up previously and place them flat down on top of the frosting, one after each swirl of frosting.

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

So you know I'm on this mission to add Nutella and Ferrero Rocher's to every single one of my favourite bakes! and Banana Bread is one of my go to recipes so it was only a matter of time before it got a 'Roch-ella' make over!

I baked this up one Friday night a few weeks back, we had some friends coming over for lunch the following day and I thought it would be a perfect afternoon snack for them. As I was chopping all these Ferrero's I thought to myself there is no other way I would want to be spending my Friday night! It was a perfect little moment of baking joy, so I snapped a pic just for you…and for me, to remember that happy little thought! Don't you just want to delve in head first?? I was particularly impressed with myself that I didn't sneak one crumb of Ferrero goodness into my mouth, I am learning self restraint painfully well while on my diet at the moment!

Actually looking back, it was a rather torturous bake to make and not indulge in, that Nutella spoon was just waiting to be licked! I guess the motivation of knowing I would be allowed a piece the following day made it all worth it! Don't you think every bake should be generously drizzled with oozy gooey Nutella right before being popped in the oven? If you're not so sure…we probably can't be friends, and you should probably stop following this blog, haha!

I did have a go at making a Nutella banana bread last year some time but I went way over board on the amount of Nutella I baked in and it left the middle of the loaf a little uncooked, so moderation is key to make this one work.

I love the swirly ribbons of Nutella you see throughout the bread...

and those Ferrero's peeking out take it over the top! Just when you thought banana bread couldn't get any better it can! This was totally delicious and the pairing of nutella and bananas is one I love, and with the addition of the Ferrero Rocher's you just can't go wrong!!

Ferrero Rocher & Nutella Banana Bread:

Serves 10

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

250g plain flour

165g caster sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp unsalted butter

2 large eggs, beaten

3 large bananas, mashed

65g banana yoghurt (use plain if you prefer)

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 ferrero rochers

160g nutella

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a loaf tin.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small bowl and add it to the bowl of the mixer. Once the eggs have been beaten in a small bowl, add them to the mixer too. Mash the bananas and add them along with the yoghurt and vanilla extract to the mixer. Beat on medium speed until everything has been incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients in two batches, beating on low-medium speed until everything is combined - do not overbeat.

Chop the ferrero rochers into halves using a sharp knife. Reserve 6 half pieces of ferrero rocher back for decoration, and with a spatula stir the rest into the batter.

In a small microwaveable bowl, heat the nutella for 30 seconds until slightly soft.

Pour half the batter into the loaf tin. Spoon half of the nutella on to the top of the batter, and using a knife swirl it through the batter. Add the remaining batter and repeat with the rest of the warmed nutella on top. Add the 6 ferrero halves.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. There will be pockets of nutella so make sure you don't test it where the nutella is.

Leave in the loaf tin for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Eat and enjoy…and if you want to eat it like me zap each piece in the microwave before eating for 15 seconds and slather in butter. Yum!

Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Oh Toblerone - you have won my heart! in any shape or form, but mostly in the largest triangles possible! Do you ever find that you buy the slightly smaller sized bars and it's just not the same! for me it has to be the large bars all the way!

Considering how much I love Toblerone it hasn't made too many appearances on my blog, and the only reason I can think why is because when we buy one of those large bars it doesn't hang around long enough in our house to be baked into anything!

So I bought the Toblerone in for this on the day of the dinner party we were serving it at! to try and make sure I was restrained enough to not eat it before it was needed!

Mousse is always something that can strike fear in people, but this mousse is seriously easy - only 3 ingredients and it can be whipped up in less than 15 minutes! and it has Toblerone melted into the mousse and scattered on top - what's not to love!

In fact it's so easy and quick to make, and the results are SO delicious that it's going to be a dangerous new find around these parts!

Chop the 400g milk chocolate toblerone into chunks and add it to a measuring jug or small microwaveable safe bowl. Add the cream straight from the carton and add the marshmallows too.

Microwave on high for three minutes, at thirty second intervals, stirring each thirty seconds to ensure it does not burn.

Once all the ingredients have melted and incorporated together (in your microwave this may take less than three minutes) remove the mixture and give it a good whisk. Set aside and let it cool.

While cooling, whip the additional cream to soft peaks and chop the additional toblerone.

Using a spatula fold in the two cups of whipped cream to the toblerone mixture. Use a whisk at the final stages, and ensure that no lumps of cream remain (there may be small lumps from the nougat in the toblerone and this is fine).

Refrigerate the half cup of whipped cream leftover until ready to serve. Divide the toblerone mixture into twelve ramekins and refrigerate for eight hours, or leave overnight to set.

Just before serving, top each mousse with a spoonful of the whipped cream and sprinkle with the toblerone chunks.

Saturday, 23 May 2015

You can never make too much rocky road, it's a fact! and a mantra to live by!

Rocky road will always be one of my fail safe go to recipes - need to whip up something in a jiffy? don't feel like turning on your oven in this amazingly warm weather we're having (jokes!) but if you do live in a warm climate...lucky you! and rocky road will become your new best friend! want to use up random contents of your baking cupboard? want to make something that sends through the post well?
Rocky road fits the bill for all! and one of my very favourite things about making rocky road is how customisable it is!

There are endless flavour possibilities! Peanut butter lover, then try this. Crazy for coconut try this, if peppermint is more your thing you'll love this...and I'm always thinking up new possibilities - a nutella & ferrero flavour one is definitely on the cards!!

So when I was planning to make and post these to cheer up a mint aero loving recipient I decided they had to be mint aero to the max! So not only do they feature chopped up pieces of mint aeros, and mint aero balls, but also chopped up pieces of the little mint aero biscuit bars you get! This was a great addition, because it gives extra crunch alongside the rice krispie pieces! and the oreo pieces were thrown in because we all know oreo makes everything better!

The one thing I don't like about rocky road is making it when you're on a diet! the little offcuts that come when you are chopping it up into squares are way too tempting! so I ended up trying more of this than I should have! but I'm a sucker for mint chocolate and this was one of my tastiest rocky road creations yet!

Triple Mint Aero Biscuit Rocky Road:

Makes 16

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

350g milk chocolate

100g dark chocolate

1 tsp vegetable oil

50g oreo cookies

140g mint aero

100g mint aero balls

75g mint aero biscuit

130g mini marshmallows

35g cup rice krispies

Line an 8x8" square baking pan with parchment paper.

Break milk and dark chocolate into pieces and put in a large heatproof bowl above a pan of boiling water. Stir in vegetable oil and mix until melted.

Remove from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

Chop the oreos into quarters, the mint aero into chunks and the mint aero biscuit bars into small pieces (Reserve back a few handfuls of the mix ins to use as toppings)